Kindle 2

As crazy as it sounds, according to an intriguing CrunchGear article today, a trusted “insider” has revealed that Amazon will be releasing two new Kindle models, the first of which could be hitting shelves as early as October.

From CrunchGear;

An insider let slip that two new Amazon Kindle models will hit stores this holiday season, with the first coming as early as October.

The first is an updated version with the same sized screen, a smaller form factor, and an improved interface. The source told us that Amazon has “skipped three or four generations,” comparing the old Kindle to the 1st gen iPod and the new version to something like the sexy iPod Mini.

The rendering to the right is NOT what the new Kindle will look like - we hope - it’s CrunchGears own rendering. However, according to the article, Amazon will be making the new Kindles available in a variety of colours to make the device more appealing to a younger audience, so buying a pink Kindle is not out of the question - yet.

Reportedly, the first model will be a smaller incarnation of the existing Kindle with the same sized screen and an “improved interface”. The source goes on to say that the newer smaller Kindle will have “skipped three or four generations” it will be interesting to see exactly what this means, a new eInk display perhaps or a new operating system? The second new version will be shaped like a 8.5 - 11 inch sheet of paper and will be noticeably larger than the current model, it will hit shelves early next year.

There is no word on the pricing structure, or indeed if it means that the existing Kindle will be reduced in price - we hope so.

We would advise that you take this news with a pinch of salt because Jeff Bezos said this at “D: All Things Digital Conference” back in May;

“There will be a second version, a third version, a tenth version. … but a second version is not that near.”

Was Jeff deceiving us? I don’t think he was, however I think the most likely reality is that Amazon is refreshing the product line - just like the Apple did with the iPod. First we had the iPod, then along came the iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle and iPod Touch, most likely that is what is going on. Amazon is offering different flavours of the Kindle depending on your reading habits, a “Kindle Nano” if you occasional reader, a “Classic Kindle” if your a major bookworm etc…

This rumour has thrown a gigantic spanner in the works if you were thinking of purchasing a Kindle any time soon.

Source: CrunchGear

Researchers from Maryland and UC Berkeley Universities have come up with an e-book prototype which could transform how next generation e-book readers are designed and used. The prototype — which you can see in the picture above — is still in the early stages of development, however the initial user reaction has been positive. The prototype e-book tries to address some of the usability issues that most e-book readers fail at - things like flipping through pages, comparing documents or folding pages. Every single e-book reader out there right now only has one screen, so the switch to dual-screen seem like a natural one.

Another interesting aspect about the prototype is that it is modular in design, meaning you could connect any number of devices together to create a large reading area.

The researches from the universities presented the prototype at the CHI08 conference, you can read the paper here. (1.6mb PDF)

The researches have also put together this video which highlights some of the features of the dual-display e-book prototype.

Source: New Scientist

Our old friend Walt Mossberg sat down with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos this morning at the “D: All Things Digital Conference”.

Walt Mossberg gave the Kindle a luke-warm reception back in November calling it “mediocre” and “marred by annoying flaws”. He liked the idea and the shopping experience behind the Kindle, but thought that the device itself was where Kindle’s flaw lied.

Jeff Bezos does his normal sales pitch about the Kindle, but this time he throws in a bit of new information about Kindle sales. Walt asks point blank “How many Kindles have you sold?” Jeff politely refused to answer the question instead he gave us a new stat: “Title-by-title basis…Kindle unit sales more than 6% of total book sales”. So of the 125,000 titles available for Kindle, of all those 125,000 titles that were sold — digital and print — Kindle accounted for 6% of sales. Jeff also said he envisioned a time when e-book sales formed a substantial portion of book sales at Amazon.

Jeff Bezos also commented on a Kindle v2:

“There will be a second version, a third version, a tenth version. … but a second version is not that near.”

It may take a decade to get the product to where Amazon wants it, he said. So this has confirmed what many thought, that Amazon is committed to the Kindle and there will be a Kindle v2 release sometime in the future.

The interview wasn’t just limited to talk about the Kindle, Bezos also talks about the streaming video-on-demand service for Amazon, which will be released in the next couple of weeks amongst other things.

You can see the interview below in 2 parts.

Source: All Things D

Have you ever wished that you could use a stylus to write notes on a page or use your fingers to turn the virtual page on your Kindle? well your wish might be about to come true, the company which supplies Amazon with its Kindle EInk displays, PVI (Prime View International), has partnered with a company called F-Origin (of which it owns a 20 percent stake) to incorporate zTouch, a proprietary touch screen technology, into EInk display panels.

From the F-Origin press release:

The functionality and flexibility in design provided by zTouch is the perfect solution for ebooks and other products that utilize PVI’s ePaper displays. zTouch enables users to control book navigation and numerous management functions, such as turning pages, making selections or simply making edits or comments via touch and through gestures and hand writing recognition. The ease of use and high-functionality of zTouch are an ideal match for eBooks by PVI.

From the separate PVI press release:

When a user touches the display, proprietary software calculates the location and intensity of the touch with input from the sensors. There is no additional layer of materials on top of the display as there is in traditional touch technologies; as such, there is no impact to the reflective qualities of the display. This technology requires no ITO (the most fragile component in traditional touch panels), hence exhibits superior robustness. Unlike capacitive touch panels which requires the touch medium be conductive (such as a finger), this force sensing technology works with either stylus or fingers

You can read the full accompanying press release from PVI’s perspective on their website and you can read up on the zTouch 3.0 Technology [PDF warning] with this product information guide provided by F-Origin.

What does this mean? will the next Kindle offer a touch screen interface as standard? The Kindle isn’t mentioned by name by either PVI or F-Origin in the press releases, but its hard to see this technology not making it onto any future incarnation of the Kindle. These certainly are interesting developments and would strongly suggest that Amazon is working on a Kindle v2.

Source: Teleread